The Glory of the Highs and Lows
and Sunrise of the Light of
Existence. Sheikh Abol Qasem
Gurakani Toosi. His patronymic
is Abol Qasem and His honorable
name Ali, a notable gnostic
during the end of the 4th
Hijri century and was successor
and vicegerent of His Holiness
Sheikh Abu Imran Maghrebi. In
Nafahat al-Uns[1] His
Holiness has been mentioned on
the same status as Sheikh Abu
Saeed Abol Khayr and Sheikh Abol
Hassan Kharaqani. In
Tadhkirat-ol-Ouliya[2] he is
considered among chivalrous[3] men of the
spiritual path. A group from
blessings of his training
reached excellence and from His
Holiness two spiritual orders
initiated. One through Sheikh of
Sheikhs and his successor Sheikh
Abubakr Nassaj and the other
through Abu Ali Fazl bin
Farmadi. His Holiness Sheikh
Abol Qasem, had a strong
mannerism, such that
supplications of all were
towards his threshold and in
discovering events for
disciples, he was also a sign.
His Holiness’ demise was in the
year 450 Hijri (1058 AD) and the
words "Abol Qasem Qaseem" is thechronogram (Article of date)
of the date of his demise.[4]

His
successor and vicegerent was
Sheikh Abubakr Nassaj. The
period he was seated on the
throne of guidance was for
seventy seven years.

Contemporaries of His Holiness
from notable Sheikhs and
Mystics:

1) Sheikh Abu Saeed Abol Khayr

2) Abu Abdl Rahman Salami

3) Sheikh Abu Ali Daghagh

4) Sheikh Abol Qasem Qoshairi

From religious authorities and
Jurists:

1) Seyed Morteza Alam ol Hoda

2) Seyed Razi-e-din Alam ol Hoda

3) Sheikh Mofeed

4) Sheikh Abu Jaffer Toosi

From theosophists:

1) Sheikh Abu Ali Sina
(Avicenna)

2) Hakim Nasser Khousrow Alavi

From Caliphs:

1) Al Taye Billah

2) Al Qader Billah

3) Al Qaem bi Amrillah

From Amirs and Sultans:

1) Sultan Mahmood Saboktakin in
Khorasan

2) Sultan Toghrol Saldjuqi in
Iraq

3) Qaboos Bin Voshmgir in Gorgan
and Tabarestan

Some brief sayings of
His Holiness:

Some asked His Holiness that, if
the spiritual wayfarer should
consent in the course of destiny
or subject himself to
supplications. Said: If the
position of consent and
supplications were in one place,
contradiction would be proved.
But the place of consent is
paradise and the place of
supplications is tongue, thus,
the wayfarer in the course of
destiny should be pleased from
the heart and the supplicant
with tongue.

Some asked since contentment
exists. What are the benefits of
supplication? Said: inability
and need in the needless
Remedial God. And informed
disposition of himself, that if
he was not appointed, from the
conquest of consent would not
open mouth and supplicate, and
in spite of being appointed it
is now for number of years did
not open tongue for
supplications and am unable to
supplicate and in specifying
issues perplexed, because if I
ask Him for something, it would
be impolite.

They
said: Don’t you ask for His
wisdom from Him? Said: the zeal
of my love does not allow me to
know Him, although I don’t want
anyone to know Him other than
Him, and till I am I, therefore
I am a stranger and thus
powerless to ask for wisdom.
Abol-Hassan bin Osman Ghaznavi
says: I asked Sheikh Abol Qasem
Gurakani that, what the minimum
quality a dervish should have,
till the name of faghir
(dervish) befitting and
deserving of him? Said: Three
things and not less than three
things are eligible. One: he
should be able to stitch a torn
truly, next: should know to
speak and hear truly. Third: he
should be able to put his feet
on the ground truly. A group of
dervishes who were present when
returned back to their homes
said: come let each of us speak
in the meaning of this speech. I
said, to stitch the torn truly
was this that, to stitch to
poverty not to adornment, and
speech truly is this that to say
based on his mood and hear not
by the ego and capture truly and
endeavor not with jest and in
the course of living, comprehend
its mystery not by reason and to
put feet on the ground truly is
that, with gratitude put the
feet on the ground not with
play. These words when informed
to His Holiness, said: they
understood well in accordance to
God’s Almighty announcement.

A glimpse at the generosities of
His Holiness:

Abol Hassan Ali bin Osman also
says that, an episode occurred
to me and the means to solve it
became difficult. I intended to
be at the services of His
Holiness Sheikh Abol Qasem. I
found him at a mosque which was
in front of his house. Since he
saw me from afar, turned his
face towards the pillar of the
mosque and expressed the
solution of the episode which
was in my mind without more and
less. I, without asking obtained
the answer. I said O Sheikh,
this is my episode. Said: O
child the Exalted God made this
pillar to vocally speak with me
at this hour that asked me the
question and I answered as you
heard.

It is said, when the Sheikh was passing by a
road, a young man came to him
and asked for counsel. Said: Go
and obey your father and mother.
That young man who previously
did not pay heed to the commands
of his father and mother,
started obeying their commands,
till one day his father inquired
the reason for this change. The
boy mentioned the counsel of the
Sheikh and its effect on his
heart. The father took the hand
of his son and came to the
presence of Sheikh and both of
them repented and obtained
inspiration. It is narrated that
one day he confronted with a
drunken young man, the young man
stole the Sheikh’s robe from his
shoulder. The next day Sheikh
sent some gold dinars through
one of his disciples for the
young man, saying, I know you
need the money and that robe has
no value, make use of this money
for yourself and return the
robe. The young man headlong ran
to Sheikh, repented and obtained
inspiration.

[3]
"Chivalrous men" means,
those mystics who in
position of spiritual
path were in perfection
of development and at
this stage are
forbearing of
everything. This word
was not the special name
for a group of mystics
and those inclined to
wayfaring.

[4]
A chronogram is a
sentence or inscription
in which the letters are
interpreted as
numerals
and stands for
particular date when
transliterated.